Green beefsteak tomatoes

Its getting closer to the BLT from scratch original deadline (August 28th) and even though they have extended the deadline to September 15th, I am still aiming for the original date. If I put in my head I have more time then I’ll just procrastinate and be rushing around at the last minute. The reason they have extended the date is because many people have complained that their tomatoes are still green (I suffer the same dilemma). My green tomatoes are getting bigger and we have 4 days of sunshine and 90 degree temperatures,  hopefully that will be enough to jump start my tomatoes. Now as for my Romaine lettuce, I can’t say the same.

Tofu ready to be smoked

The Tofu: Step one of my tofu is complete, I made 5 pounds of fresh tofu straight from the dried soybeans, and it is now in the freezer for step 2. This weekend I will be smoking a block of the tofu for a trial run.

Beet Sour dough bread - I tried to do a different style of shaping which didn't quite work out, but it still kinda looked cool.

The Sourdough Bread: After a couple of failed attempts my wild yeast sourdough starter is thriving and I have made 3 successful loafs with it already. I tried my experiment of making purple bread only to be confused. I first steamed beets in spring water, then used the purple water to feed half of my starter 3 hours before making my bread, then substituted 1/2 a cup of flour for 1/2 a cup of pureed beets. The dough was a vibrant purple so I thought I had succeeded. Until I took it out of the oven only to find a light brown loaf of bread. Somehow through some scientific phenomenon the color disappeared and all that was left were a few light purple streaks in the crust.

The Vegan Mayonnaise or white sauce: I still haven’t come up with any ideas, but to make it more from scratch I will probably grind my own beans for fresh soy milk and use some other method to make it into a flavorful white spread. I am definitely welcome to any ideas from my readers, just post a comment below.

Baby romaine lettuce, not much bigger than seedlings

The final plan update: I will be smoking the tofu with hickory wood chips, then thinly slicing, marinating and frying aka tofu bacon. I will be making a sourdough loaf, possibly again with beets (it tasted great and did have a nice appearance), might throw my blue potatoes in the mix that I just harvested from my garden to see what they do. If I don’t have red tomatoes then it will be green tomatoes, possibly fried, or pickled. Lettuce will either grow or be borrowed from a friend, or if all else fails I will use fresh from the farmers market. Mayonnaise will be made just not sure how, I have some fresh herbs hang drying as we speak, basil, tarragon, and have some fresh garlic from a friends garden on hand.

Blue Potatoes

The delivery date: September 3rd or 4th (I will have the inlaws in town so I have some outside opinions on the taste). I might also invite some of my hardcore carnivore friends over to see if I can woo them with a vegan sandwich (its worth a try).

Feel free to suggest some ideas for the vegan Mayo, or send your prayers and wishes, for my tomatoes and lettuce. Anything might help.